Dear W3C Patent Policy Working Group:
I fully agree with the EFF that including the RAND licensing
option in the Patent Policy Framework would be a travesty.
I fully agree with the appended letter they suggest I send.
The Internet and the Web were built on public domain software.
Your members who are pushing the RAND option wish to derive
the benefits of that free software, but wish to compel
subsequent users to pay them to use the web. Do not let this
happen. I have no problem if someone chooses to pay to use
the web. But to compel every user to pay by adopting standards
based on patented technology would be a hijacking of a
network developed by others.
Giuliano Carlini
1605 El Verano Way
Belmont CA 94002
I'm concerned about the recent Patent Policy Framework draft, which
could allow W3C members to charge royalty fees for technologies
included in web standards.
In particular, I object to the inclusion of a "reasonable and
non-discriminatory" (RAND) licensing option in the proposed policy.
I believe that the exclusive use of a "royalty-free" (RF) licensing
model is in the best interests of the Internet community, and that
RAND licensing would always necessarily exclude some would-be
implementors, especially among open source and free software
developers.
I applaud the W3C for its tradition of providing open-source
reference implementations and its work to promote a wide variety of
interoperable implementations of its open standards. The W3C can
best continue its work of "leading the Web to its full potential"
by continuing this tradition, and saying no to RAND licensing.
Sincerely,